50 Can Offer Prayers At Delhi's Nizamudddin Markaz During Ramzan: Court

Fifty people will be allowed to offer prayers during Ramzan inside the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi, which has been shut for over a year.

The Delhi High Court today allowed people to offer prayers five times a day on the first floor of the Nizamuddin Markaz, but subject to disaster management rules.

The court noted that under the rules, religious gatherings were banned but there was "no direction" to close places of worship. "The situation is getting grim day by day. But since all religious places are open and Nizamuddin Markaz is a place of worship, this also had to be opened," the High Court said.

The Masjid Bangley Wali in Nizamuddin in south Delhi was shut in March last year after a huge controversy erupted over a gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat sect held at a time coronavirus cases had started rising in India. Cases were filed in many states blaming Tablighi members for the escalation of Covid cases.

The Delhi Waqf Board approached the High Curt requesting that the restrictions be eased to allow people to pray inside the Markaz during Ramzan.

In a flip-flop, the Centre first agreed that devotees can be allowed back into the Markaz but a day later, told the High Court that no one must be allowed in the mosque as all religious gatherings had been banned under new rules in the capital for disasters.

During the arguments, the court had reacted sharply to the Centre's statement that only 20 people can be allowed to enter the complex for prayers at a time from a list of 200 people verified by the police.

"In your notifications, have you curtailed the gathering to 20 at a time for religious places," the court questioned amid a controversy over frighteningly massive crowds at the Mahakumbh Mela in Uttarakhand's Haridwar in defiance of Covid rules. The Waqf Board also referred to the Kumbh in one of its arguments, seeking to flag double standards.